Baltimore Urban Chain Changes Closes Doors

Baltimore’s streetwear scene became a little smaller last month, following the closure of Changes, a 10-door urban retailer.

NEW YORK — Baltimore’s streetwear scene became a little smaller last month, following the closure of Changes, a 10-door urban retailer with brands that included Akademiks, Rocawear and LRG.

The company confirmed that the chain closed on Sept. 27, but executives did not return phone calls or e-mails by presstime to comment.

Changes had been a part of the Baltimore retail community for more than 100 years, albeit in several other incarnations. The company was founded as Seifs in 1892 on Baltimore’s Gay Street, and operated as a true men’s clothing store. By the 1950s and ’60s the store had evolved into a young men’s retailer, and later, honed in on the growing urban consumer. In 1989 the Changes name was adopted for all the retailer’s locations, which, until its closing, included mall-based doors in White Marsh Mall, Security Mall and Towson Town Center.